Prof. Sisi Zlatanova

Faculty of Built Environment,The University of New South Wales ((UNSW), Sydney, NWS, Australia

Email: s[Dot]zlatanova[At]unsw[Dot]edu[Dot]au

 Title:

     Voxels representations to support 3D analysis and simulation for Urban Digital Twins  

Voxels offer several advantages over traditional vector representations, particularly in creating a 3D gridded space where each voxel holds a single value. This unified representation supports intuitive data management and enables a range of 3D operations. Voxels are widely used for processing point clouds and modelling continuous phenomena such as geological formations and marine environments. However, their application in 3D city modelling and urban analysis remains limited. They most commonly appear in research for indoor scenarios like navigation and evacuation path computation.

Yet, voxels hold significant potential for a broader range of urban applications, particularly those involving airborne phenomena. Examples include hazard dispersion, urban heat island analysis, noise propagation, wind modelling and integrated 3D modelling of both above- and below-ground environments. Despite these advantages, voxel models face limitations—chief among them being the substantial data size required at high resolutions, which can hinder scalability and performance. This talk addresses these challenges by introducing an optimised octree-based data structure for efficient voxel storage. We present a set of generic 3D operators that can be executed directly at the database level, significantly enhancing computational efficiency.

The proposed data structure and operations will be illustrated through several use cases, including 3D data integration, indoor path navigation, evacuation simulation, and 3D fire propagation modelling.

Bio:

Dr. Sisi Zlatanova holds the esteemed position of SHARP Professor within the Faculty of Arts, Design, and Architecture at UNSW Sydney, where she serves as Head of the Geospatial Research, Innovation, and Development (GRID) lab. Her academic journey starts with the attainment of a PhD on ‘3D for Urban Development’ from Graz University of Technology, Austria.  Her expertise lies in the realm of 3D modelling, with a particular focus on the seamless integration of BIM and GIS, alongside pursuits in 3D Indoor modelling, 3D voxel representations, 3D data management and visualisation. Since recently she started investigating Large Language Models for spatial data search and processing.  Collaborating with a dedicated team of researchers, Dr. Zlatanova continually pushes the boundaries of Spatial Digital Twins, enhancing their 3D capabilities.

Her influence extends globally. She holds the position President of Technical Commission IV 'Spatial Information Science' at the ISPRS. She plays an active role in the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), notably leading the development of the OGC standard IndoorGML and participating in the work of several ISO standards. Additionally, she is a founding member and regular contributor to conferences such as Gi4DM, 3DGeoinfo, and Indoor3D. Her contributions to academia are prolific, boasting over 600 scientific publications and the editing of 23 books. She also serves as an associate editor for several high-ranked journals, further solidifying her impact on the field.